Ares Management

Ares Management Corporation

Company type	Public
Industry	Alternative investment management
Founded	1997
Founder	Antony Ressler, Michael Arougheti, David Kaplan, John H. Kissick, Bennett Rosenthal
Headquarters	Los Angeles , United States
Area served	Worldwide (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East)
Products	Credit, private equity, real estate investment management
Number of employees	1,500 (2021)
Website	aresmgmt.com

Ares Management Corporation is a worldwide alternative investment firm with expertise in credit, private equity, and real estate sectors. Established in 1997, the company is headquartered in Los Angeles and maintains offices throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.

By September 2021, Ares oversaw close to $295 billion in assets and employed about 1,500 professionals globally, serving clients across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East.

History

Founded in 1997 by Antony Ressler, Michael Arougheti, David Kaplan, John H. Kissick, and Bennett Rosenthal, Ares has grown through multiple subsidiaries:

• Ares Capital Corporation (2004): a publicly listed business development company (BDC) that finances U.S. middle market acquisitions, recapitalizations, and leveraged buyouts.
• Ares Capital Management LLC: a registered investment adviser with the SEC for Ares Capital Corporation.
• Ares Management Limited (2006): the firm’s European arm authorized by the UK Financial Conduct Authority to provide investment advisory services.

In May 2007, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority took a minority non-voting interest. Ares became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange in May 2014.

Key achievements include closing its fifth global private equity fund at $7.85 billion in April 2016 and acquiring American Capital for $3.4 billion in January 2017. In 2020, Ares secured a controlling stake in Hong Kong-based SSG Capital Management, which was rebranded as Ares SSG.

Additional strategic expansions involved acquiring Black Creek Group’s U.S. real estate advisory operations in July 2021 and making a £500 million preferred equity investment in the UK-based RSK Group alongside Searchlight Capital in June 2024.

In October 2024, Ares broadened its international presence by purchasing GLP Capital Partners' global business (excluding Greater China) for $3.7 billion in cash plus $1.9 billion in Class A common shares.

Highlighting its diversification into sports ownership, Ares acquired a 10% interest in the NFL’s Miami Dolphins in December 2024—one of the earliest external ownership stakes approved by the league.

These initiatives demonstrate Ares Management’s strategic focus on growth through acquisitions and expanding its global reach across multiple asset classes and geographic regions.

Operations

Ares is a prominent participant in the private debt sector through four principal business divisions:

• Ares Credit Group oversees about $60 billion in assets concentrated on non-investment grade credit including corporate loans, high-yield bonds, institutional credit strategies, special situations, asset-backed securities, and direct lending within the U.S. and Europe. Its U.S. corporate lending primarily operates via Ares Capital Corporation alongside a commercial finance unit targeting small to middle market enterprises. The European operations focus on illiquid middle market credits through commingled funds, separately managed accounts, and joint ventures.

• Ares Private Equity Group focuses on opportunistic control or shared-control investments in undercapitalized middle market companies and manages power and infrastructure assets across the U.S. As of 2016, it administered approximately $23.3 billion in assets spanning North America and Europe through corporate private equity funds, a China growth fund, and co-investment vehicles centered on power and infrastructure industries.

• Ares Real Estate Group manages public and private equity as well as debt investments within North American and European real estate markets. With around $10.2 billion under management, it operates various investment platforms including the publicly traded REIT Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation along with private equity commingled funds and separately managed accounts.

• Ares SSG, established following the acquisition of SSG Capital Management, invests across credit, private equity, and special situations throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

These diversified segments form the foundation of Ares’ worldwide operations and contribute significantly to its competitive positioning within alternative asset management.